Artists & Illustrators — June 2017

Y

ou often have to search out a subject

but, every now and again, a scene

will fi nd you. A short walk from the

studio was Rhinasol, on the banks of Loch

Kishorn. It had the ingredients for the perfect

picture – water, mountains and old boats.

This painting was done as a group

demonstration to show how I work in mixed

media using watercolour and pastel.

1

I used a stretched sheet of watercolour

paper because I need it to stay fl at to take

pastel. I added a strip of masking tape

around the edge, and took this off halfway. It

acts as a mount and helps me to assess the

painting. For the initial drawing, I used a 4B

solid graphite pencil and blocked in darks

with a black chisel-tip permanent fi bre-tip

pen. Placing the darkest darks early helps to

establish tonal range. Using an old rigger

brush I applied masking fl uid to reserve

highlights on the water, posts and boats.

Using a 1-inch hake, I covered the paper

using fl uid, wet-in-wet washes of Ultramarine,

Raw Sienna, Permanent Sap Green and Burnt

Umber. When this was completely dry, I

rubbed off the masking fl uid.

2

I added a wash of Raw Sienna over parts

of the foreground, including the grasses

which were masked with the medium. I added

darker greens with a mix of Ultramarine and

Raw Sienna. I switched to a No 12 round

brush and, with a mix of Ultramarine and

Burnt Umber, built the tones around the

boats. When dry, I began to add the pastel.

3

I fi rmed up some of the drawing of the

boats with the tip of a black Conte

crayon, added a light blue (Blue Violet 7) over

parts of the sky and a grey (Grey 10) over bits

of the mountain, echoing some of this colour

in the loch. I like to use pastels on their side

to create texture. I added a warm green

(Yellow Green Earth 9) to the middle distance

and I applied this to the foreground, along

with a lighter green (Yellow Green Earth 7).

I used a cooler green (Green 19) for the

middle distance and, for the beach, I used a

pink (Red Earth 13) and a purple-grey (Light

13). This was also used to highlight the bows

of the foreground boats and post. Finally,

using a rigger brush, I fl icked in a few more

grasses. Because of the changeable weather

conditions, time is a key factor. There is little

opportunity to think so this gives energy and

a greater spontaneity to the work.

ray’s materials

•WATERCOLOURS

Winsor & Newton:

Ultramarine, Raw Sienna,

Permanent Sap Green,

Burnt Umber

•PASTELS

Unison Soft Pastels: Blue

Violet 7, Grey 10, Yellow

Green Earth 7 and 9, Green

19, Red Earth 13, Light 13

•BRUSHES

1-inch hake, no 12 round,

rigger

•4B SOLID GRAPHITE

PENCIL

•BLACK CONTE

CRAYON

•BLACK CHISEL-TIP

PERMANENT

FIBRE-TIP PEN

•PAPER

Arches 140lb (Not)

•MASKING FLUID,

PLUS AN OLD

RIGGER BRUSH

Mixed-media demonstration

PLEIN AIR SPECIAL

58 Ray Balkwill.indd 61 07/04/2017 10:47